Heat treatment of welded joints



Oct 1933- s. H; RANSOM, JR. ET AL 2,133,926

HEAT TREATMENT OF WELDED JOINTS Filed June 13, 1936 2 She ets-Sheet 1 AND GEORGE C. FA! IRN INVENT 8 THEiR ATTORNEY SAMUEL H. RANSOM JR.

Oct. 18, 1938.

s. H. RANSOM, JR. ET AL 2,133,926

HEAT TREATMENT OF WELDED JOINTS Filed June 13, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l G .4 32 54 v SAMUEL -H. RANSOM JR.

AND

GEORGE C. FAIRBAIRN.

INVENTORS THEIR ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 1a, 1938 2,133,926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEAT TREATMENT .OF WELDED JOINTS Samuel H. Ransom, Jr., and George C. Fairbairn,

Port Arthur, Tex., assignors to The Texas Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application June 13, 1936, Serial No. 85,003

2 Claims. (Cl. 148-215) This invention relates to a method and appament, above the cost of the usual arc-welding ratus for the heat treatment of welded joints in equipment is nominal.

pipes or other steel plates or structures, to pro- Referring to the drawings illustrating typical duce a joint of strong uniform structure having examples of the invention,

'5 physical properties similar to those of the con- Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a T nected pipes or plates. weld of steel pipes, illustrating one application In forming welded joints which are permitted of our invention with an interior heating unit. to cool in an uncontrolled manner, as by being Fig. 2 is a similar view of tubes welded end to v subjected to air cooling, the structure of the end. weld and the connection of the weld with the Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 10 adjacent metal of the welded structure forms an 3-3 of Fig. 2. undesirable mass of heterogeneous structure Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing tubes which maybe immediately or later fractured due welded-end to end, but with an exterior heating to stresses set up in the materials.- The desirelement. able uniformity a homogeneity Structure g. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line 15 v and desirable physical properties such as tough-' 55 of Fig. 4. ness and resistance to shock are accordingly Fig. 61s a sectional view illustrating the invenlacking. tion applied to a weld between a tube and a The invention is particularly applicable to the plate or large pipe, for example a still wall. treatment of welded joints between corrosion- In Fig. 1 of the drawings, the side pipe 8 is 20 resisting steel or other metal pipes containing welded to the base pipe ill by the metal I2 dea small percentage of alloying elements such, for posited in the groove formed between the pipes example, as chromium or molybdenum. In 8 and III. In Fig. 2, likewise, the pipe sections petroleum equipment, pipes and tanks containing 8A and IOA are welded together by deposited from 4 to 6 percent chromium are in general use metal I2A introduced into the groove A. 25 and it is in the welding of tubes or plates of this i The same heating device is utilized in Figs. 1 type that the greatest difliculty with present and 2 of the drawings. This heating device, inwelding methods is encountered. dicated generally at it, comprises a series of It has been found especially difficult to join gh-resistanc heating elements l8 alternately two tubular members or one tubular member to connected to one another at their opposite ends, 30 a plate or to the side of a larger tube by welding, as indicated at l9, and supported within the due to the fact that the metal deposited in the nsulating plates or d scs 0- he at n weld is not all deposited at the same instant and ments may be connected to the source 22 in the weld is cooled without properly controlling series throughout the entire device or may be the temperature. Unequal cooling thus occurs connected in two or more parallel circuits, de- 35 and this causes small cracks to develop in the p nd t up n the p t nt ava a up weld. This condition is more pronounced when the type of heating element employed. The ciralloy steel tubes or plates are to be welded, parcuits 20 may be connected by the right and left ticularly' those having a small chromium or mohread d b lt 4 for fo ming t ri id h tin 40 lybdenum content, for example from 4 to 6 per unit. 40 cent. The outside of the weld is thoroughly insulated In accordance with the present invention, the for a substantial distance beyond the weld and weld is formed in the usual manner by the deposit beyond the heating elements. 80 that the heat of molten metal in apreformed groove between available will e pp e t efleetlvely at the the parts to be welded. The weld and adjacent weld itself. The insulating boards 20 close oil? 45 metal are then immediately treated in accordthe pas g in t e tubes "1 a d The P ance with the present invention in the formation ge W n etub 8 may likewlse be closed y of a strong, uniform weld. means of a similar insulator 26. In Fig. 1 a The apparatus disclosed herein can be conthick insulating layer 28 envelops the tubes 8 structed and used with a minimum expenditure and I0 on both sides of the weld l2,'the insulator 50' for equipment since it is adapted to receive curextending yond the heat device, as shown. rent from the usual electric arc-welding -equip- Similarly, the weld between the tubes 8A and IDA ment having a motor generator for supplying is enclosed within a heavy layer of insulation electric current at various voltages for lforming 28A so as to pr ve t e at mainly at the weld the initial weld. The cost of the present equip- IIA and the adjacent tube members. In order 55 to know accurately the temperature at the weld, a thermocouple should extend within the insulation to a point adjacent the weld l2 or lZA, as indicated at St].

The apparatus disclosed in Figs. 4 and 5is of the same general type as in the first form of the invention. In this case, however, the heating device 32 is positioned exteriorly of the tubes 36 and 36 connected by theweld 3%. The heating device may be formed of hinged semicylindrical members do and d2, hinged together at G l and adapted to be secured as at 46 in enveloping relation to the welded tubes. As illustrated, the heating elements Alt are supported in the insulating boards 59 and metallic ferrules 5,2, spaced by means of the semi-cylindrical metallic or insulating elements 56. The sleeves 55 of the ferrules support the heating device upon the tubes 38 and 3E. Theheating elements G8 are connected to the source till in two parallel circuits in this form of the invention, one for each of the semicylindrical units. The entire heating device is surrounded by insulating material 62 extending for a substantial distance beyond the weld 3t and heating elements at. The interior of the tubes 3 3 and 36 will be closed oii by insulating material (not shown) corresponding to the insulating disks in Fig. 2. A thermocouple lid is preferably employed as in the first form of the invention.

In Fig. 6 the pipe 65 is attached to the still wall or other plate or large pipe 68 by means of the Weld Till. The weld and adjacent pipe and still wall are enveloped by the heating devices 72 and it having heating elements both within and without the weld, in the form illustrated. It will be understood that under some conditions only one of these devices is required. The exterior heating device comprises the heating elements 76 mounted on transite board or other rigid insulators l6 and Bi], connected together as by means of bolts 82. The elements l6 may be connected in series to the source of power 84 or, if desired,

ing elements 88 connected to the source of power 90 and mounted between the disk 92 and cylinder 94 formed of insulating material. The disk 92 and cylinder 9d are rigidly supported on the T bolt 96, the entire inner face of the unit being enclosed within the insulating material 98. An insulator I00 is placed within the tube 66 to prevent excessive loss of heat into the tube 68.

In carrying out the present invention by the apparatus described above, the weld is first formed in the usual manner by depositing molten metal in the grooves formed between the tubes to be joined. The joint and adjacent tubes or wall are then supplied with the annealing devices described above. Electric current is then supplied to the heating elements for heating the weld and adjacent metal to a high temperature below the fusing point of the weld and tubes. In the typical case in which the invention has been employed, wherein tubes containing 4 to 6 per cent chromium are welded by metal having the same chromium content, this metal has a critical temperature in the range of 1375 to 1450" F. The annealing treatment requires that the welded joint be raised somewhat over this temperature, for example, to about 1600 F. The

joint is allowed to remain or soak at this temperature for approximately one hour. The temperature may then be lowered uniformly or by stages at the rate of, say, 5 F. per minute until a lower temperature, for example 1350 F., is reached. This temperature should be maintained for a period, for example one-half hour, to permit the metal to more thoroughly set in this semi-cooled condition; Thereafter the temperature should be gradually cooled at a controlled rate until a temperature of approximately 1200 F. is reached. Thereafter more rapid cooling or even air cooling may take place without injury to the weld.

The critical temperature referred to herein is a point where the particles of the metal become sufiiciently plastic that the metal particles re align themselves, and stress within the joint is relieved. The critical temperature for a typical steel tube containing from 4 to 6 per cent chromium is from l350 to 1500 F. Such steel requires a treating temperature of around 1600 F. Where the joint is soaked at this temperature for approximately one hour, the joint assumes a homogeneous unstressed state. Other metals have corresponding critical temperatures,

Due to the complete enclosure of the weld and adjacent metal within the insulating material disclosed, the weld is brought to its maximum temperature and gradually cooled to substantially the same temperature throughout the weld and adjacent metal. It has been found that this tends to the arrangement of the particles of the metal into a homogeneous state, and that there is little or no tendency for the welded pipe joint thereafter to become separated or cracked when the joint is later used in normal operations where, for example, the pipes may be subjected to temperatures from below normal to 1000 F. or higher.

It will be understood that in the apparatus described above the interior or exterior heating units may be employed, whichever is more convenient in the particular location, or under some conditions the units may be placed both within and without the joint for the more effective control of. annealing temperatures. It is also obvious that Welds in structures having shapes other than those illustrated, can be treated in a similar manner. Thus, a weld between two fiat or curved plates such as ship plates or armor can be annealed in accordance with the invention simply by forming the heating elements and the insulating casing so as to conform substantially to the shape of the plates near the welded joint.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as applied in the annealing of welded joints it is also applicable to various other-forms of the heat treatment of metals such as alloy steels.

While there are shown and described certain preferred forms of the invention, it will be understood that these are merely illustrative and that the invention is to be limited only in accordance with the appended claims.

We claim:

l. The method of annealing a welded joint formed by metal deposited between steel members, one of which is tubular, said metal and said members consisting of a steel alloy containing about 4 to 6% of a metal selected from the group consisting of chromium and molybdenum, comprising encasing said joint and adjacent portions of said steel members in an insulated electrical heating device snugly fitted against said steel members, supplying electrical current to said device to raise the temperature thereof to approximately 1600 F., and thereafter gradually reducing said temperature by regulated amounts to about 1200 F., interrupted by a soaking period wherein the temperature is maintained temporarily at a point between 1200 and 1600 F.

2. The method of annealing a welded joint formed by metal deposited between steel members, one of which is tubular, said metal and said members consisting of a steel alloy containing about 4 to 6% of a metal selected from the group Consisting of chromium and molybdenum, comprising raising the temperature of the weld and adjacent portions of said steel members to about 1600 E, maintaining this temperature for a period suflicient to relieve all stresses in the joint or adjacent steel, gradually reducing the temperature of said weld to approximately 1350 F. and maintaining said last named temperature for not less than several'minutes and then gradually reducing the temperature to approximately 10 

